Power was cut to homes in Oropi and Ohauiti for at least two hours yesterday after a car crashed into a power pole on Oropi Rd.
The collision completely downed the power pole, which hung over the road, forcing emergency services to close the road and divert traffic.
The woman driving the car was taken to hospital with moderate injuries, Tauranga fire station officer Dave Whistler said.
Shannon Wright, a nearby neighbour, was first on the scene and alerted emergency services about 11.20am.
She heard a loud bang before running outside to find a woman trapped in a vehicle.
"She was conscious and talking.
"I just took a deep breath and helped her."
Ms Wright had lived at her Oropi Rd address for 20 years and said accidents happened on the rural road "all the time".
"The corner comes up quite fast and the road is quite slippery when it's wet so it can be quite dangerous."
Only hours later, two cars collided on Pyes Pa Rd and traffic was reduced to one lane while emergency services helped one driver from her car and cleared the scene. The two drivers were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The cars collided about 500m south of the southern entrance to Joyce Rd.